Master of Arts
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Each year the number of attendees has grown and the Coalition has been successful in securing national speakers, such as Phillip Mangano, Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness; Tanya Tull, Executive Director of Beyond Shelter and co-founder of the Housing First Model; Mark Johnson, Director of Special Needs Programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Steve Berg the vice president for the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Author(s): Mark Johnston - Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs, Community Planning and Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Show DescriptionHide DescriptionThis was the opening plenary session for the 2006 National HMIS Conference in Denver, CO.Mark Johnston Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development presented on the importance of HMIS data for Congress and HUD`s commitment to the HMIS Initiative.

Mark Johnston, an acting assistant secretary at Housing and Urban Development, said the stable homeless rate during tough economic times was viewed as encouraging news.

Johnston said the federal government is spending about $1.9 billion to house the homeless.
The amount has steadily increased over the years, with a particular boost coming from the 2009 economic stimulus package.

That investment would probably need to grow to about $20 billion to provide housing for all of the homeless during a one-year period, Johnston said.

Saturday morning, Mark Johnston, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Special Needs at the Department of Housing and Development opened the conference and framed the issue by announcing that federal funding for homelessness will remain flat next year, at $1.9 billion, so it will be more critical than ever for agencies to work smart and work together.